


round about the cauldron sing

by starfleetbanana



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: 5+1 Things, Crack, Fluff without Plot, In which Adam is a witch, M/M, Witchcraft, and his roommate is very confused about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 17:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8724178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfleetbanana/pseuds/starfleetbanana
Summary: "People are going to judge him anyway, so he chooses to be unapologetically Adam Parrish, something he’s never done before and something Ronan’s trying to teach him.
And an important part of being Adam Parrish is being a witch".
5 times Adam practiced witchcraft to get what he wanted + 1 he didn't have to





	

**Author's Note:**

> In which Adam Parrish is a witch, Ronan supports his witch boyfriend and Oliver, the OC, doesn't know whether to be scared or to admire Adam. 
> 
> I was inspired by a work I couldn't find about this and also by the fact university's been kicking my ass so bad I haven't been able to practice any sort of witchcraft in a while. I truly wanted to make this cute and fluffy but it got ridiculous and I liked it anways. I actually had to take latin this semester so I actually went through my notes to write the simplest phrases ever. Also I feel like this has become a personal challenge to see how many 5+1s I can write. Enjoy!

i. Adam Parrish doesn’t care anymore, he wishes he could say that, in fact, he’d never cared but that’s a lie. Now he’s a proper Ivy League he thinks he’s got the right to stop caring what people think of him and not only because of where he studies, but because of the way his life is now. People are going to judge him anyway, so he chooses to be unapologetically Adam Parrish, something he’s never done before and something Ronan’s trying to teach him.

And an important part of being Adam Parrish is being a witch.

It’s pretty simple for him but, apparently, it’s a whole enigma to his university friends and he laughs at the way they don’t understand a thing about him, but at least they’re trying. They’ll never be able to mean as much as the _gangsey_ does, but they respect him and never ask uncomfortable stuff. He knows they’re _really_ trying.

The first witchy thing that comes naturally to Adam isn’t in fact an actual ritual or anything that elaborated, he just sits with a bowl of water in front of him on his desk and stares into it until he feels like his skin’s made of silk and his bones are light, until he’s dissipating and being welcomed in another world where he belongs. It’s Ronan’s world, he knows that, so he knows Cabeswater will always welcome him no matter what.

Sometimes he sees things he’ll be able to use to help the ley lines keep working properly, sometimes he sees stupid things such as Noah interrupting his trance making funny faces at him in the back of his mind, but there are really special days where it all feels intoxicatingly like Ronan Lynch.

Ronan is in that forest, his mind, his dreams, his creations, his actual roots are there and it feels like the vines that surround him will actually pierce his skin and trap him within Ronan’s mind. The thought consumes him to the point where he forgets there's a way back to his own body.

_Sponsus,_ the trees whisper as he walks, “Adam” Ronan says and his voice sounds so full of joy even though his expression isn't exactly joyful.

Adam thinks it’s more than practical to be a witch when your boyfriend is Ronan Lynch, the asshole who never answers the phone, because he’s a way to see him without the layers and layers of toughness that are so characteriscally Ronan’s. In his forest, Ronan’s the greywaren and Adam is the magician, a complex and yet so simple dynamic that makes them fit perfectly into each other’s space when they finally touch. It doesn’t feel quite like real life, it's much more like a dream, but the words spoken are so real Adam feels like carving them on the stones that surround them so he’ll never forget.

_Mortifer Adam est,_ the trees continue, and Adam knows it’s because Ronan’s insecurities will never disappear, it’s because the venom of his words lives within those trees too. He laughs, his chin on Ronan’s shoulder and his arms still around his waist, pressing him impossibly closer.

“Mortifer ille non est” Ronan says, his cracked lips against his cheek, “Pulcher, validus, beatus Adam est” He finishes and Adam can’t contain his laughter.

“Did you just call me beautiful? _And strong and good?_ ” He asks before pressing a kiss to the tender skin he finds.

“Shut the fuck up, Parrish” Ronan’s hand rests on the back of his neck and he wants to stay there for as long as he can, but then the metaphorical spell is broken -with all that homework who has the time to cast an actual spell, though?- and the voice of his roommate interrupts him, pulling him out of the trance, out of Ronan’s reach.

“Shit, Adam, are you okay? Can you say something?” Oliver asks and he looks scared because Adam has probably been staring into a bowl of water for half an hour and he was so still it seemed like he’d stopped breathing. When Oliver actually walked toward him, he’d seen the haunted look on his face, the empty eyes that called for something to be done to rescue Adam, except Adam was just fine being praised in an ancient language.

Adam nods in response. Of course he’s fine.

“You should talk to Ronan” Oliver suggests and it’s stupid because he barely knows anything about Ronan. Adam’s sure he thinks he’s a nice small town straight movie cliché boyfriend, but Ronan’s everything but nice. He hasn’t actually found a word to describe Ronan Lynch that fits his attitude problem and how much love he can feel toward the people who surround him that quite describes how real that boy is.

“Oh no, I was just talking to him, it’s fine. I didn’t get to say good bye, though” Adam says interrupting himself with a yawn. His vision’s still blurry and the fluorescent lights of the room are making him a bit dizzy but he’ll come back to himself in a matter of seconds. He hates being dragged back into the real world.

“You were literally staring into a bowl of water, what the fuck” Oliver sighs and Adam stares at him completely unable to make the connection. Sometimes he forgets not everyone’s like he and Ronan, both made of something else, _for_ something else. He blinks once, twice, and then gets his phone to text Ronan even if he knows he won’t answer.

“It’s just… a thing that um,” He says and he’s so vague Oliver really has to use his imagination to believe Adam Parrish is not, in fact, delusional -which wouldn’t be bad either, he just means to take care of him, after all-.

_Belicus Ronan est._ He presses ‘send’ smiling to himself, and then remembers and writes again: _Since when is your forest calling me your boyfriend?_

ii.Adam likes telling Ronan he has time to waste talking to him smiling at the ceiling with his phone on is good ear since they decided their whole scrying/dreaming/projecting method of communication was weird outside of Henrietta and it freaked Oliver and Opal out. In fact, he does not have any time to waste with two exams the next morning, still he’s working on a spell to help Ronan’s work because he loves saying his boyfriend’s a farmer.

He misses his candles and his incense and his burning dry herbs but he can do without them, in fact, he knows even if he had them he wouldn’t be able to use them outside the dorms because his headaches have been getting so bad lately he can’t do much beside force himself to study for the sake of his future. Oliver’s been nice about it and doesn’t complain about his lack of movement and noises.

When his headaches get bad he gets anxious and when he’s anxious he thinks he’s going to end up completely deaf. He knows it doesn’t make a lot of sense but then again nothing in his life’s ever made sense before.

His chronic headaches and his inability to speak when he gets upset about it made him look into spoony witchcraft, since he needed to practice without wasting all his energy on too many steps that weren’t necessary. Though it isn’t one of those days the spell he’s making for Ronan’s actually made of emojis and a lot of energy going through a phone that’s plugged to the charger, which has a sigil drawn on it.

He types a long list of emojis and writes a few words of encouragement before sending the text, a few minutes later Ronan calls him. Adam smiles.

“It’s a spell to become a gay farmer full of peace and ready to replace heteronormative agricultural expectations” Adam says interrupting himself midsentence with the purest of laughs. Sometimes he can’t believe he’s that happy, “For real though, Lynch. I’m serious, I’ll charge it for you every morning so the plants won’t die” Oliver chokes on his cup of coffee from his desk, “Tell Opal as soon as I’ve time I’m gonna do something for her, okay? Yes, yes, love you, bye”.

Oliver is no longer surprised, just a bit confused.

iii. “What are you doing? Do you need me to come back later?” Oliver asks holding the books he's carrying against his chest, he’s too tired to go back to the library but he respects Adam too much to deny him moments of quiet.

“No, it’s fine” Adam says, getting three long black candles out of a drawer and Oliver is a bit scared but he also knows witchcraft isn’t that scary when Adam’s practising it, right? “Can you sit on my bed, though? I’m sorry I’ve got all my stuff around” He says reaching for two purple thicker and taller candles. He can’t light them inside the dorm room, but he positions them around a puppet made out of a soft looking pastel pink fabric.

Oliver sighs and silently prays for Adam not to go to hell because he’s too nice and he’s probably doing all this stuff for a good reason. He sits on Adam’s bed and waits, closes his eyes so he won’t see any of the weird things Adam’s probably doing and stays silent.

“You can talk” Adam says, “It’s so Opal’s nightmares will go away” He continues and Oliver’s so relieved he lets himself breathe in, “She’s afraid of too many things”

And I’m afraid of you, Oliver thinks.

iv. “You fucking have witch bed again, Parrish” Ronan says in disgust and Oliver laughs because he’s been on that bed too, dried rosemary and thyme all over the covers when he was too drunk to sleep on his own bed.

“You’re a farmer, shut up” Adam scowls at him and turns around to keep working. Ronan looks away at the exact same time.

Oliver doesn’t know how they work, but they do. They dance around each other, predicting each other’s movements, in tandem, giving each other the exact amount of time they need to say what they want to say. It’s as if they know everything about the other even before looking into each other’s eyes.

Oliver wonders for a second if they’re truly in love, or if Adam just cast a spell on Ronan.

“I brought you belladonna so you can curse the uglies out there” Ronan says reaching for a plastic bag he’d left on the night stand a few minutes before.

“Why, thank you” Adam whispers, his head buried in his homework. Ronan sighs and places the bag inside the herb drawer on Adam’s side of the bedroom, “I’m about to finish this, just wait a minute”.

Oliver doesn’t feel uncomfortable when Ronan’s there, though he’s still a mystery to him. He wants to ask about the heteronormativity of agriculture, but he doesn’t because he respects people who are fluent in ancient languages like Ronan is, though it doesn’t seem much of a problem when he’s driving his BMW and wearing his favourite leather jacket.

Oliver’s actually learnt to trust Adam with his soul, since he’s more responsible than anyone he’s ever met. He’s hardworking too and he hopes he gets to be his roommate again because he’s learnt so many interesting things about witchcraft. Also because Adam's presence is reassuring, and Ronan's casual feigned annoyance at his existence is weirdly encouraging.

After Adam’s finished the last lines of his homework he sits on the bed with the same pen, takes Ronan’s hand in his and starts drawing.

“What’s that for?” Ronan asks, staying as still as he can without seeming like he cares too much at the same time. Ronan Lynch, just like Adam Parrish is an impossible collision of elements of the universe. 

“This one’s for you to feel comfortable around Ivy League idiots” He murmurs, brow furrowed in concentration because it isn’t only ink he’s got to work on while he draws the sigil on the back of Ronan’s hand, “The other one’s for you to be able to express your feelings when you want to “ He adds and lets go of his left hand in order to start the second sigil on the other hand, which fits perfectly into his.

Oliver’s seen Adam done this a hundred times and though he doesn’t completely understand how a drawing makes you do or feel things he’s seen them working on Adam and Ronan at least.

“Do you want one, Ollie?” Ronan asks, his name pronounced with a mocking voice and finished with a dangerous smile and though he knows that’s just Ronan’s nature it makes him shiver slightly.

“Yeah, so my roommate stops being so fucking creepy about unlit candles” He answers looking at Adam who just shrugs in response. Ronan shrugs too. He forgets that’s what their normalcy is.

v. It’s been two years Adam’s been one of his best friends but it still catches him by surprise when he opens the door as silently as possible in the middle of the night and Adam stares at him for about a minute shaking a jar with -oh god, he doesn’t wanna know what those things are.

Adam’s assured him again and again all those old ingredients were a code, metaphors so the rest of the world wouldn’t steal spells, but he still thinks if he really takes a look at all of the jars Adam’s got all around their room he’ll find someone’s hair or toothbrush and will want to run the fuck away.

“What are you doing?” It’s been two years, really, and he hasn’t been able to stop asking him the same stupid question.

“Making him come back here because he left me talking alone”

“Who?”

“Noah, the dead boy in the expensive uniform” Adam continues, shaking the jar even more vigurously. It’s got glitter in it, it actually looks pretty.

“Don’t you use a Ouija board for that?”

“Actually Noah doesn’t like them” A voice from Adam’s voice says. Oliver rolls his eyes, he can’t believe the concept of a farmer with a buzzcut who lets his boyfriend cast spells on him isn’t only a concept but an actual person.

"He calls them luigi boards" Adam adds. He can’t fucking believe Adam Parrish is an actual witch.

\+ i.

“Oh, I’m sensing something strange here” Adam says in the middle of their graduation and god, he wishes he’d just shut the fuck up about feeling things because it makes him anxious. Graduating makes him panic enough.

“I’m sensing bullshit” Blue, the tiny Asian girl says, her hand on Adam’s shoulder and the other one holding a glass of champagne, “Did you bullshit your whole way through Harvard, Parrish? Or was it witchcraft?” She asks trying to look into Adam’s eyes but there are several inches between them which make the task quite difficult from Oliver’s point of view.

“Hey, he did it all by himself” Ronan says with a scowl, his pride showing in the way his eyes judge Blue’s choice of words and then looks at Adam almost reverently. And right then and there _Ollie_ ’s almost sure Ronan must be under some kind of spell because he’s never in his life seen someone look at their significant others with such devotion.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, translations: 
> 
> Sponsus means boyfriend/fiancé  
> Mortifer Adam est means Adam is miserable (insecure Ronan where u @)  
> Mortifer ille non est. Pulcher, validus, beatus Adam est. He isn't miserable, Adam's beautiful, strong and good.  
> Belicus Ronan est. Ronan likes fighting (I honestly wish English had a word for 'bélico' that people actually used)  
> Also: "It’s a spell to become a gay farmer full of peace and ready to replace heteronormative agricultural expectations" I actually did see a spell of this a few hours ago, it was the ultimate inspiration. And no, Ronan isn't under any spell because consent is very important, he's just disgustingly in love with this boy.
> 
> Comments, kudos & bookmarks feed my insatiable Pynch stained soul, thanks.


End file.
